Categories: Car News

After the success of its "Imported From Detroit" campaign, Chrysler is always eager to put a new spin on the theme. In recognition of the much anticipated The Dark Knight Rises film, the automaker has released a new ad campaign entitled "Imported From Gotham."

Gotham is the fictitious New York City-like metropolis setting of the Batman comics and movies, for anyone that hasn't been paying attention to decades of Batman movies, television shows and comic books. In a garage deep in the heart of the city, a team of mechanics outfits a Chrysler 300 for sharp vigilante justice.

Battery range is already a major reason that electric vehicles are destined to remain a small niche in the market. An often overlooked demon lurking ominously behind the greater range issue is the penchant for battery capacity to decrease over time. Indeed, over the course of years, batteries will slowly lose their ability to hold charge, and range will get lower and lower until a replacement is needed.

If the experiences of some Nissan Leaf owners are any indication, battery capacity may soon displace range as the biggest drawback of electric vehicle ownership. Not two years after launch, some owners are already complaining about discernible capacity losses.

We’ve seen a lot of fireworks shooting from the Ford media engine lately – which seems appropriate with the Fourth of July looming – especially with regards to new vehicle technologies. But apparently the movers and shakers at Ford have been up to more than just EcoTech engines, KeyFree, and improvements to the company’s lagging MyFord Touch.

Ford is in the midst of developing two next-generation systems that could improve or eliminate some of the most despised driving obstacles: traffic jams and reverse perpendicular parking.

Every few years we get a renovated soda brand which seemingly defies our perceptions of what makes soda so freaking delicious. Case in point: Coke Zero, all of the taste, none of the calories (or some such jingle). But Cadillac’s incoming 2013 ATS model is much more than just a gussied up pig with new lipstick.

Instead, the ATS will be Cadillac’s second market contender, after the CTS V-Series, that will challenge a powerhouse segment – flooded with the likes of the BMW 3-Series, Mercedes-Benz C-Class, and Audi A4.

And, just before the ATS hits the showroom floor, the slugmatch has officially begun. Cadillac released a competitive comparison graphic showcasing the ATS’s weight saving, and thus performance, specs.

This sounds like a mouth full of sensationalism, but the Mini Clubvan will be the world’s first premium compact delivery van – at least that’s how Mini USA is choosing to bill the company’s upcoming commercial entry. And that’s all well and good but, when the Clubvan hits showrooms this Fall, we expect buyers from all different sectors to take note.

The Clubvan will be the first modern-day Mini to embrace functionality over urban trendiness. Naturally, that doesn’t mean Mini’s Clubvan will lack a dash of flavor.

The company’s promotional pics even go so far as to include a…disco ball…in the vehicle’s rear storage area.

Tesla has begun deliveries of the Model S. About a month ago, we saw the EPA's official range rating for the Model S. This week, we get the full picture, as the EPA has released the fuel economy rating.

The EPA rates the Tesla at 89 mpg-e, which is lower than most other EVs on the market - the Mitsubishi i leads the way with 112 mpg-e; the Ford Focus Electric comes in at 105 mpg-e; and the Nissan Leaf sits at 99. Of course, none of the competitors can hit 60 mph in 5.6 seconds (4.4 seconds in the Performance trim). The Model S gets 88 mpg-e in the city and 90 mpg-e on the highway.

As we learned last month, the largest battery pack that Tesla will offer has enough capacity to send a driver out for up to 265 miles of cruising. That's just an average, and Tesla believes that drivers will be able to get more than 450 miles with just the right conditions (though they'd have to turtle along at residential speeds to do so).

J.D. Power and Associates released its 2012 Initial Quality Study on Wednesday. The study is based upon responses from more than 74,000 2012-model vehicle owners and awards vehicles and automakers scores built around the number of reported problems. Lexus tops the study for the second year in a row.

Companies use buzzwords like ‘dynamic’ and ‘magnanimous’ to define popular CEOs. But the tide of corporate and consumer perception can swiftly turn on these elevated citizens, for CEOs are – in many cases – public figures. One mistake and a seasoned CEO can go from hero to zero in a matter of minutes.

After Chrysler’s incredible bounce back in 2011 and staggering first quarter results in 2012, we can safely say that Sergio Marchionne has earned his keep as well as a long list of positive descriptors. And financial results aside, Marchionne has contributed to the reputation and enlivened spirit of Detroit in a big way.

So much so that The Detroit News has named the Chrysler Group LLC Chairman and CEO ‘Michiganian of the Year’ for 2012.

If you're wondering why nearly every automaker in the industry is turning to the Apple iPhone for its in-vehicle electronics, it could have something to do with the fact that developing car electronics in house is a thankless task. The MyFord Touch system is one of the more advanced systems out there, but it seems to be getting nothing but complaints. Last year, Ford's slide in major studies like the J.D. Power Initial Quality Study and Consumer Reports Reliability Study were largely attributed to MyFord Touch and Sync problems. Despite issuing an update that was supposed to solve those woes, Ford is still feeling the effects.

Ford customers continue to complain about infotainment complications in this year's Initial Quality Study. Before the study was released on Wednesday, Ford said that it anticipated performing about as poorly as last summer, when it fell from 5th to 23rd, dropping below the industry average. That drop was attributed nearly exclusively to hiccups with the infotainment technology.

Here's an idea that couldn't possibly go wrong: Launch a guerilla marketing campaign that encourages average people (many of whom will be in cars) to become auto paparazzi. That's what Chrysler has done in its latest ad campaign for the Dodge Dart.

The 2013 Dodge Dart will be making its way out to dealers beginning this month. To help pump up some excitement around the model, Chrysler is encouraging folks to "spot the 2013 Dart." The "Darting Across the Country" campaign seeks to create an army of citizen journalists that snap photos of trucks stacked with new Darts. Of course, it can't actually pay thousands of people for their journalistic efforts, but it will select 25 for a $50 gift certificate for Dodge clothing and gear.

The rumor mill is turning once more, spinning a sci-fi thriller which might affect the very fabric of our everyday lives. Ford’s KeyFree technology, commonly known for automatic door locking/unlocking and – everyone’s favorite gimmick – push-to-start ignitions, has popped up on a French Vimeo site with an altogether new software update.

So far, all we know is that a new version of Ford’s KeyFree system is coming soon. And this time, multiple password storage and automatic log-on will be the name of the game.

Users of the Ford KeyFree app will be able to save usernames and passwords for social media, email, internet shopping, and the like. Upon entering a device’s Bluetooth range, connected computers will automatically log on to each individual account.